A dally around Downtown

I caught a bus downtown today and spent a couple of hours wandering around see a bit of the heart of Downtown Seattle. The bus system over here is pretty good: they use ORCA cards (pretty much the same as London's Oyster card), there's a plethora of bus routes to get you pretty much anywhere you need to be, and most importantly the buses run pretty much on time! The Lab at which I'm working is just on the outskirts of the main high rise downtown area. I work on the 7th floor and on the top, 11th, floor there's a gym and balconies with roof top gardens. Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute Building One:

 A short walk towards the harbour from the lab is the Seattle Monorail which runs from the Westlake Shopping centre (lots of great international eateries for lunch!) to Seattle Centre and the Space Needle:

Right on the coast is Pike Place market, known for its fresh fish, this bustling market has stalls of just about every type imaginable. More importantly the first ever Starbucks opened there! Now I have to admit I forgot to go to said mecca of the coffee drinking world while I was down there today; however, I intend to go after work one night when hopefully it'll be quieter than it would have been today on a sunny Saturday in summer.

Other highlights of my ramble round this area of downtown were the moving sculpture outside Seattle Art museum:

This rather poetic war memorial:

Some examples of the street art scattered around downtown:

And finally the beautiful 1930's Paramount theatre, a music venue situated across the intersection from the bus station near the lab - when I first noticed it the other day Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube were playing there!